With so much of the world revolving around screens and computers, Christmas is the perfect time to take a step back and relax with a beautiful book instead. But how many of us think about buying books for ourselves anymore? We’ve picked out five very different options that we feel would make the perfect Christmas gift, even for non-bookworm types.
London Explored
Peter Dazeley and Mark Daly
If you’re looking for something just a little off the beaten track in London, this beautifully presented book is the ideal present this Christmas. It’s full of interesting and unique places to visit, from bomb shelters and bunkers to casinos and chapels. With detailed commentary and colourful pictures, it offers a genuinely fascinating glimpse of London beneath the usual tourist facade. Available from Amazon for £24
, it’s a valuable insight into a world rarely explored.
Out of This World: Historic Milestones in NASA’s Human Space Flight
Bill Schwartz
If there is one coffee table book that needs to be on your Christmas list, this is undoubtedly it. Who hasn’t stood outside on a clear night, looking up at the stars and wondering what it’s like to be up there?
This beautifully bound book is full of NASA images, many of which have rarely been seen by the public, giving an astronaut’s-eye view of space travel and stories from key personnel within the agency. There’s a rundown of the history of NASA, and quotes from Commander James Lovell of Apollo 13 fame, John Glenn, and John F Kennedy, adding to this renowned institution’s rich and fascinating history as we’ve never seen before.
Every kid’s dream is captured in the pages of this ACC Art Book depicting more than 60 years of space exploration, from the foundation of NASA in 1958 to the launch of the James Webb telescope in 2021.
80s Sound and Vision
Sheila Rock
You’ll love this book if you’re a child of the 70s or before. A trip through the 80s and all its marvellous and bemusing colour and vibrance, with images shared by photographer Sheila Rock. There is a mixture of pictures from her personal archive alongside those originally featured in iconic publications like The Face, Vogue and Rolling Stone.
Rock leads us through the decade, from music and culture to fashion and even the emergence of gender fluidity, with faces you’ll recognise, including David Bowie and Sade. The birth of subcultures and gangs like the New Romantics, Goths and the Skinheads are pictured too, highlighting just how diverse the decade was. Whether you loved or hated it, this book, available from Amazon for £23, shows that there’s no denying it had a definite style!
Sex, Drugs and a Buddhist Monk: A Stepping Stone Towards a Silent Mind
Luke Kennedy
If you ever needed reminding that mental health struggles come in all shapes, sizes and guises, this compelling memoir by Luke Kennedy showcases it perfectly. On the outside, Luke was a drug-addicted thug, mixed up in gang crime and leader of one of Sydney’s most notorious street-fighting crews. Inside he battled with depression, anxiety, paranoia and fear. He found himself stuck in the endless cycle of needing drugs to still his mind, and spiralling poor health, both mental and physical, with every drug and alcohol binge.
Kennedy shares his journey from self-destruction to acceptance and eventually freedom from those destructive demons with honesty and humility. Available from Amazon for less than £15, it’s a thought-provoking read and well worth a place on your Christmas reading list.
The Atlas of Atlases
Philip Parker
For the cartophiles out there, this is a must for the Christmas list. This beautifully illustrated book delves into the history of the atlas and the cartographers who created them — going right back to the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, produced in 1570 by Abraham Ortelius and thought to be the world’s first atlas.
This detailed and fascinating book ― available from Amazon for £24 ― shows how mapmaking has developed over time and how the plotting of maps and the making atlases helped the world to develop, for better or worse.
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